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A Queer Reading in Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues ================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 18:7 July 2018 India’s Higher Education Authority UGC Approved List of Journals Serial Number 49042 ================================================================ A Queer Reading in Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues Ms. R. Kavitha and Adappatu Ancy Antony, M.Phil. Research Scholar ==================================================================== Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Butch_Blues Abstract The novel Stone Butch Blues addresses the theme of prejudice and persecution faced by members of the LGBTQ community in Post-War America. It also expands upon the Queer theory. The protagonist of the novel, Jess Goldberg is born into a working class, traditional, Jewish American family. Although born female, Jess is never able to reconcile herself into society's definition of a proper girl. In her earliest memories, Jess Goldberg felt different from other girls her age. She despised dresses and all the things that girls played with. Even when it came to dress, Jess was inclined to dress like a boy. She envisions her future, and in that future, she does not see herself resembling the typical, socially-accepted woman. And as a result, even as a very young girl, Jess faced a lot of persecution and prejudice; not just from kids her own age but from adults as well. Instead of trying to understand her, they tried force her to fit in. And as she develops into a teenager, she realizes that she will never be the same as the rest of the girls and she doesn't want to be; all she wants is for society to accept her for who she is. The novel is about the search to find one's own identity, particularly when that identity runs counter to what society says is acceptable. It also depicts the struggles in the life of a person who decides to transcend gender; it also highlights the courage of the human soul to face adversity and survive. And in the end, the author ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 18:7 July 2018 Ms. R. Kavitha and Adappatu Ancy Antony, M.Phil. Research Scholar A Queer Reading in Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues 10 conveys an important message; that lives goal is to channel one's own struggle to achieve a purpose that is greater than oneself. A purpose that brings a higher meaning to existence. Keywords: Queer, alienation, binary, homosexuals, Stone Butch Blues Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues The term 'Queer Theory' was coined by Italian feminist Teresa de Lauret is for a conference held in the University of California, Santa Cruz and it first emerged in the early 1990’s. It is a critical study of queerness, or the departure from the archetypal norms when it comes to gender and sexuality. Queer theory details on the theoretical and fundamental details of queerness. While Gay and Lesbian studies focus only on what is natural in terms of homosexual behavior. Queer theory is a more expansive study which focuses on any kind of sexual activity or identity that falls into normative and deviant categories; in other words, the Queer theory focuses on mismatches between sex, gender and desire. Queer Theory Although queerness is generally associated with Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual subjects, the analytic framework of queerness also includes topics such as cross-dressing, intersex bodies and identities, gender corrective surgery, and gender ambiguity. The theory, in addition to studying queerness, attempts to debunk the norms of dual polarity sexes, sex-gender constraints, gender- correlative sexuality, and absolute sexual stability. It attempts to act as a guide in understating queerness, dispelling myths surrounding queerness and reconstructing the norms and taxonomies of queerness. Queer theory has now entered the mainstream of world literature. Authors all over the world are creating literature based on the queer theory. Most of them are biographical and autobiographical accounts of queer people, their lives, their struggles and more often than not, the persecution and prejudice with which society treated them. Authors all over the world are now producing literature that is aimed at improving the awareness of the general public about the LGBTQ community. Each author, of course, has their own take on queer theory, and therefore these texts are each highly unique and varied. Queer Literature in America Among the nations of the world, America is the frontrunner when it comes to Queer literature. American literature was much faster to accept the queer theory and literature based on it than the rest of the world. As of today, American literature is the single largest source of queer literature around the world. Queer theory has made a huge impact in America: several states in the US have legalised same sex marriage as of late. The LGBTQ community is respected in America and Queer Literature is more popular there than anywhere else in the world. As a result of the larger and more appreciative audience available to them, American queer theorists have produced a lot of ground-breaking literature based on the queer theory. American authors have come to see queer literature as a part of mainstream American literature, and as a result, they have blended the theme of queer theory into other socially relevant topics such as racism, politics, and economics among others. As a result, queer literature in ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 18:7 July 2018 Ms. R. Kavitha and Adappatu Ancy Antony, M.Phil. Research Scholar A Queer Reading in Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues 11 America has undergone a change from pure queer theory to a blend of related social topics, all coming down to the same point of freedom of individual expression and the right of every person to determine one’s own identity and live with it without having to fear social repercussions. Stone Butch Blues The novel Stone Butch Blues presents a radical approach towards the Queer theory. The author tries to communicate the fact that any member of the Queer community, be they lesbian, gay, transgender or any other identity that refuses to conform to societal norms of gender and sexuality is socially crippled by the prejudice and misconception directed at them by the general public. The novel details how the social crippling and alienation begins from a very young age. The protagonist of the novel, Jess is used to being gawked at for her appearance. Even as a child, Jess was more than once asked Are you a boy or a girl? by unassuming adults. Jess is not free from being misunderstood even in her own home. Her parents are among the main causes for the ostracizing and social crippling of Jess. "I'm sick of people asking me if she's a boy or a girl. Jess overhears her mother saying this. Such instances result in Jess becoming introverted, scared, and in general, socially crippled. Emotional Drama The novel also delves into the emotional trauma associated with being queer in that time and age. Her classmates alienate her, and she is the constant butt of bullying. “Brian says you’re a girl, but I think you're a sissy boy”, taunts one of Jess's classmates (SBB 17). He then proceeds to rape Jess along with his friends. The emotional scarring that is left as a result of such an incident is detailed in the novel. As a result of the incident, Jess decides that it is time to leave her parents' home and find a life of her own. But this is not so easy, as social ostracism is not the only hurdle that a queer person had to face during those days. The novel details how her nature as a Butch lesbian not only earns her social alienation; it also causes serious economic and legal problems. Employment was extremely hard to come by; nobody wanted to employ queer people. Jess struggles to find employment, and when she finally does, it does no justice to her abilities or passions. The approach of the novel clearly displays the author’s disdain for the discriminative social setup. Legal Status Besides the economic difficulties, Jess's identity also threw her legal status into jeopardy. Homosexuality was deemed illegal and taboo back than; and the brutality unleashed upon the Queer community by the police was nothing short of inhuman. The author details the violent nature of the treatment of the Queer community at the hands of the authorities; they are raped and tortured. And it does not stop there. The novel details how being queer affects one’s personal, romantic and sexual life. Within the Queer community, Jess identifies as 'butch'. A butch is a lesbian and/or a transgender person who assumes a masculine identity. And butches are usually found to be linked with femmes, who are feminine lesbians. Like most other butches, Jess also wishes for the love of a femme and an authentic life as a butch, a life without having to fear anyone. The novel describes the emotional and sexual intricacies of the Butch-Femme relationship. The author approaches the relationship with great detail; she describes the nature of the attachment between a homosexual couple; the root of the desires of a homosexual person. The novel helps us gain an understanding of the life and lifestyle of the Queer community in general and homosexuals in particular. ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 18:7 July 2018 Ms. R. Kavitha and Adappatu Ancy Antony, M.Phil. Research Scholar A Queer Reading in Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues 12 The Question Raised The author tries to answer the question of why a homosexual would rather be with mother homosexual than a heterosexual person.
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